Thursday, July 06, 2006
Animal-rights Expert Endorses Kosher Plant
A leading expert on the humane treatment of animals is giving a stamp of approval to the nation's largest kosher slaughterhouse after previously criticizing the plant.
Temple Grandin, an animal science professor, issued her endorsement last week, after visiting the AgriProcessors slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa. The plant, owned and run by Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidim, has been the subject of criticism since 2004, when an animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, released video footage from inside the slaughterhouse that showed cows going to a loud and violent death. When Grandin initially viewed the video, she said it was the "most disgusting thing I'd ever seen."
After her June 27 visit to Postville, Grandin stood by her original statements but said that AgriProcessors appears to have improved its slaughter process.
"What I saw there today was working very well," she told the Forward after her full-day visit, for which she was paid as a consultant by AgriProcessors.
"They have to learn to keep their process good," she added.
Grandin's positive remarks came as a welcome piece of good news for AgriProcessors, which has come under fire on a number of fronts since the slaughtering controversy. In May, the Forward published an article about the working conditions of the largely immigrant work force at the Iowa plant. The main union of Conservative rabbis has since formed a task force to investigate the situation. Then, last week, The Jewish Week reported that the company, along with other kosher meat producers, had been subpoenaed by a federal agency for issues reportedly relating to price fixing and antitrust violations.
AgriProcessors is the only kosher producer that slaughters both poultry and beef, which are sold under the brand names Aaron's Best and Rubashkins. But it was the videos made by PETA that first brought AgriProcessors into the consciousness of many kosher consumers. In the video, which was shot by an undercover PETA investigator, cows could be seen standing up and walking after their throats had been cut. As the animals struggled, another employee pulled out the trachea and esophagus with a hook, apparently to speed up the bleeding process.
Company officials said they were pleased by Grandin's findings.
"Given her commitment to animals, her pleasure is high praise and validates AgriProcessors' humane treatment of its animals," said Mike Thomas, a spokesman for AgriProcessors.
From the beginning of the PETA controversy, the animal rights group pushed AgriProcessors to have Grandin visit the facility and offer suggestions for improvement. She has visited more than 30 kosher beef plants during her career, and has designed equipment to aid in humane slaughter. Moreover, Grandin, who is autistic, is renowned for her sensitivity to animals. Her book "Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism To Decode Animal Behavior" was a bestseller last year.
Officials at the most powerful kosher supervision agency in the country, the Orthodox Union, say that they immediately pushed for a visit from Grandin after PETA released the video. PETA says that the plant initially rejected its requests for Grandin to visit the plant, but AgriProcessors says the animal rights group had nothing to do with the visit.
"PETA's efforts to further their extreme political agenda at the expense of religious freedom have never been a factor in AgriProcessors' thinking," Thomas said. "Dr. Grandin has been to AgriProcessors before; she consulted with AgriProcessors shortly after the plant opened in 1989. We had been asking her to consult with us again for a number of years, and three months ago we were finally able to settle on a date."
The Orthodox Union has been the most ambivalent player in the dispute over AgriProcessors. The O.U. has said that the images on the video would not threaten the plant's kosher certification. But a week after the PETA video was released, O.U. officials said that they wanted to see changes in the slaughter process at the plant. They prevailed on AgriProcessors to introduce a stun gun on the kill floor to immediately knock out any animals that appeared conscious after the first cut.
During her tour of the plant last week, Grandin went through the entire slaughter process, from the barns to the kill floor. AgriProcessors uses what is known as a rotating pen, which turns the cow upside down before the first cut across the neck. This device has been controversial, but Grandin said that the pen was being operated skillfully during her visit. Previously the animals in the videos had been dumped on the floor immediately, but Grandin said they are now being checked for any signs of consciousness before being dumped. In the clearest sign that things were operating smoothly, Grandin said that the cows were not making any noises.
"I didn't hear any cows mooing," Grandin said. "When they do things wrong, cows moo."
Grandin said that at the end of her visit, she recommended that the plant internally audit its slaughter process every week. "They've got to have that kind of auditing control — otherwise they have a tendency to slip back," she said.
Menachem Genack, the rabbinic administrator of the Kashrus Division of the O.U., said that he was glad the plant had been able to fix its problems; however, he was hesitant to give credit to PETA, which first brought those problems to light.
"Do I think PETA represented things accurately and appropriately? I don't," Genack said. "Do I think there were mistakes there that had to be corrected? I do."
Although a spokesman for PETA, Bruce Friedrich, said he was happy that the plant had taken corrective steps, he questioned whether the O.U. has taken sufficient measures to ensure that similar problems do not crop up in the future at AgriProcessors and at other kosher plants.
"It shouldn't require a PETA investigation and three years of hand wringing to ensure that the Jewish commitment to compassion is part of the O.U.'s standard operating procedure," Friedrich said.
Animal-rights Expert Endorses Kosher Plant
A leading expert on the humane treatment of animals is giving a stamp of approval to the nation's largest kosher slaughterhouse after previously criticizing the plant.
Temple Grandin, an animal science professor, issued her endorsement last week, after visiting the AgriProcessors slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa. The plant, owned and run by Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidim, has been the subject of criticism since 2004, when an animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, released video footage from inside the slaughterhouse that showed cows going to a loud and violent death. When Grandin initially viewed the video, she said it was the "most disgusting thing I'd ever seen."
After her June 27 visit to Postville, Grandin stood by her original statements but said that AgriProcessors appears to have improved its slaughter process.
"What I saw there today was working very well," she told the Forward after her full-day visit, for which she was paid as a consultant by AgriProcessors.
"They have to learn to keep their process good," she added.
Grandin's positive remarks came as a welcome piece of good news for AgriProcessors, which has come under fire on a number of fronts since the slaughtering controversy. In May, the Forward published an article about the working conditions of the largely immigrant work force at the Iowa plant. The main union of Conservative rabbis has since formed a task force to investigate the situation. Then, last week, The Jewish Week reported that the company, along with other kosher meat producers, had been subpoenaed by a federal agency for issues reportedly relating to price fixing and antitrust violations.
AgriProcessors is the only kosher producer that slaughters both poultry and beef, which are sold under the brand names Aaron's Best and Rubashkins. But it was the videos made by PETA that first brought AgriProcessors into the consciousness of many kosher consumers. In the video, which was shot by an undercover PETA investigator, cows could be seen standing up and walking after their throats had been cut. As the animals struggled, another employee pulled out the trachea and esophagus with a hook, apparently to speed up the bleeding process.
Company officials said they were pleased by Grandin's findings.
"Given her commitment to animals, her pleasure is high praise and validates AgriProcessors' humane treatment of its animals," said Mike Thomas, a spokesman for AgriProcessors.
From the beginning of the PETA controversy, the animal rights group pushed AgriProcessors to have Grandin visit the facility and offer suggestions for improvement. She has visited more than 30 kosher beef plants during her career, and has designed equipment to aid in humane slaughter. Moreover, Grandin, who is autistic, is renowned for her sensitivity to animals. Her book "Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism To Decode Animal Behavior" was a bestseller last year.
Officials at the most powerful kosher supervision agency in the country, the Orthodox Union, say that they immediately pushed for a visit from Grandin after PETA released the video. PETA says that the plant initially rejected its requests for Grandin to visit the plant, but AgriProcessors says the animal rights group had nothing to do with the visit.
"PETA's efforts to further their extreme political agenda at the expense of religious freedom have never been a factor in AgriProcessors' thinking," Thomas said. "Dr. Grandin has been to AgriProcessors before; she consulted with AgriProcessors shortly after the plant opened in 1989. We had been asking her to consult with us again for a number of years, and three months ago we were finally able to settle on a date."
The Orthodox Union has been the most ambivalent player in the dispute over AgriProcessors. The O.U. has said that the images on the video would not threaten the plant's kosher certification. But a week after the PETA video was released, O.U. officials said that they wanted to see changes in the slaughter process at the plant. They prevailed on AgriProcessors to introduce a stun gun on the kill floor to immediately knock out any animals that appeared conscious after the first cut.
During her tour of the plant last week, Grandin went through the entire slaughter process, from the barns to the kill floor. AgriProcessors uses what is known as a rotating pen, which turns the cow upside down before the first cut across the neck. This device has been controversial, but Grandin said that the pen was being operated skillfully during her visit. Previously the animals in the videos had been dumped on the floor immediately, but Grandin said they are now being checked for any signs of consciousness before being dumped. In the clearest sign that things were operating smoothly, Grandin said that the cows were not making any noises.
"I didn't hear any cows mooing," Grandin said. "When they do things wrong, cows moo."
Grandin said that at the end of her visit, she recommended that the plant internally audit its slaughter process every week. "They've got to have that kind of auditing control — otherwise they have a tendency to slip back," she said.
Menachem Genack, the rabbinic administrator of the Kashrus Division of the O.U., said that he was glad the plant had been able to fix its problems; however, he was hesitant to give credit to PETA, which first brought those problems to light.
"Do I think PETA represented things accurately and appropriately? I don't," Genack said. "Do I think there were mistakes there that had to be corrected? I do."
Although a spokesman for PETA, Bruce Friedrich, said he was happy that the plant had taken corrective steps, he questioned whether the O.U. has taken sufficient measures to ensure that similar problems do not crop up in the future at AgriProcessors and at other kosher plants.
"It shouldn't require a PETA investigation and three years of hand wringing to ensure that the Jewish commitment to compassion is part of the O.U.'s standard operating procedure," Friedrich said.
Animal-rights Expert Endorses Kosher Plant
Comments:
Classic double speak by Genack. Incredible.
No question PETA was the catalyst for corrective measures here.
Question is: How truly impartial was Grandin in view of the fact that not only was she paid by Agri for her visit that day, but she also sells specially constructed pens.
So there is a clear conflict of interest on her part. She comes in, criticizes, and then immediately offers her pens as a solution. How convenient.
Enough to make one seriously consider vegetarianism.
No question PETA was the catalyst for corrective measures here.
Question is: How truly impartial was Grandin in view of the fact that not only was she paid by Agri for her visit that day, but she also sells specially constructed pens.
So there is a clear conflict of interest on her part. She comes in, criticizes, and then immediately offers her pens as a solution. How convenient.
Enough to make one seriously consider vegetarianism.
Comment Credit ---This article posted by 
: July 07, 2006 9:23 AM
: July 07, 2006 9:23 AM
That must have been a great show that Rubashkin put on for Templw Grandin. As soon as she left, then went back to the practice if Shecht and dump.
Genack should not be in this at all. he is not in the shechita business, he only sends someone over to look at the plant and collect the checks.
Where was Breuers during this? Their shochtim don't even show up and it is under their hechsher.
As for Lubavitch shochtim - they are more maikel than anyone in the business. The shechita is kosher b'dieved, not l'chatchila. They pulled out the trachea not to hasten the bleeding of the animal, but the try to get more glatts. By shaking the lungs, they decrease the number of adhesions.
Too bad that no one has the beytzim to say that Rubashkin is ruining Kashrus in America. Look at the number of times they have been cited by goyim. How many Yiden had to shut their mouths?
Genack should not be in this at all. he is not in the shechita business, he only sends someone over to look at the plant and collect the checks.
Where was Breuers during this? Their shochtim don't even show up and it is under their hechsher.
As for Lubavitch shochtim - they are more maikel than anyone in the business. The shechita is kosher b'dieved, not l'chatchila. They pulled out the trachea not to hasten the bleeding of the animal, but the try to get more glatts. By shaking the lungs, they decrease the number of adhesions.
Too bad that no one has the beytzim to say that Rubashkin is ruining Kashrus in America. Look at the number of times they have been cited by goyim. How many Yiden had to shut their mouths?
Comment Credit ---This article posted by : July 07, 2006 12:47 PM
: July 07, 2006 12:47 PM
> she also sells specially constructed pens.
Her pens would not be used by Agriprocessor since they do Shechita Munachas (with the animal on its back); a process Grandin specifically abhors.
Her pens would not be used by Agriprocessor since they do Shechita Munachas (with the animal on its back); a process Grandin specifically abhors.
You moron, you speak out of your tuches, have you visited the AgriProcessing plant yet? do you have first-hand knowledge about what's happening their? If not, then shut your pie hole. No one cares about your political hate feelings against good members of our community. You shrimp cocktail! (I had to throw that in).
Comment Credit ---This article posted by : July 18, 2006 1:08 AM
: July 18, 2006 1:08 AM
Bobby Fisher, you're a bigot. Evidently you hate Lubs. Anyway, the trachs were not cut to shake off sirchos (you don't know squat), the goy is neither cutting high enough nor giving enough "shake" on the trach to loosen sirchos. He's cutting out the trach (and carotids) so the animals would bleed out decently (because from shechita alone they weren't--regardless of who was shechting---I saw some pretty poor shechting by a S'fardi Breslover), because ALL of the shochtim were shechting poorly (dull chalofim? no exertion?). As many as 12 holachos and hovaos (count em, in the PETA video) to shecht a behaima monachas (such kaileker shechita!). I could shecht better than that with a kitchen knife. Frankly, anyplace that I've ever seen shechita monachas (Israel, England, etc), the shechita has never been as skillful as in places (USA,Canada) that shecht upwards, such as in a box, V or double rail restrainer, or "t'luya" (hanging). Amazing, considering that upwards shechita (particularly "t'luya") is technically more difficult. I guess, since shechita monachas is so much easier, the shochtim don't care to rise to the challenge.
As for PETA, their interest in "improvements" in shechita is about as funny as Hitler's interest in "improvement" Jewish behavior (He wanted to KILL us, like PETA wants to KILL consumption of meat and ALL animal products---like eggs and dairy).
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As for PETA, their interest in "improvements" in shechita is about as funny as Hitler's interest in "improvement" Jewish behavior (He wanted to KILL us, like PETA wants to KILL consumption of meat and ALL animal products---like eggs and dairy).
Comment Credit ---This article posted by : August 20, 2006 11:28 AM
: August 20, 2006 11:28 AM
